ALAMEDA PRE-K NEWSLETTER FOR THE WEEK OF:

09/08/09-09/11/09

 

            What a fantastic first week of school! The children were so well-prepared (to your credit, parents!) and seemed to move easily into their new school routines. This week, rather than try to cover all the do’s and dont’s of going to school, we emphasized our three classroom rules: Be Safe, Be a Friend, and Be a Helper.

            These rules help children to understand the basic school expectations and then to establish their behaviors based on those expectations. As different situations arose, we referred the children back to our three basic rules and asked them the question: Is that behavior safe? Friendly? Helpful? And then they were able to sort it out for themselves.

            We celebrated three birthdays this week (we have seven September birthdays in all!): Tovi’s 5th on Tuesday, Aidan’s 4th on Thursday and Miriam’s 5th on Friday. HAPPY  BIRTHDAY TOVI, AIDAN AND MIRIAM!

 

            Change in Drop-off and Pick-up Location

            We have really appreciated your flexibility as we have continued to refine the drop-off and pick-up routines. We are still doing some problem-solving around this and are likely going to make one more change starting Tuesday, September 15 in the morning.

            As a few parents have pointed out, the traffic flow in the morning has been problematic with the sign-in, coat hangers and cubbies all in the same area of the room. It has also been very hot for parents and children waiting outside during the midday pick-up time.

            The solution we’ve come up with for both of these problems is to change the entrance from the West to the East door, set up the parent’s sign-in near that entrance, while the kids are encouraged to go to the other side of the room to hang up coats, backpacks and lunch boxes and then do their sign-in at the round table. We’ll also be setting up a canopy on the East side of the Pre-K portable where parents and children can find shelter from rain and heat while waiting for one another.

 

My Life In a Bag Sharing Begins Monday, September 14

            The new sharing schedule begins on Monday, September 14 with the My Life In a Bag sharing. Here it is again:

 

Monday:                       Tuesday:                       Wednesday:                 Thursday:               Friday:

Acacia             Ben                             Danny                         Evie                      Greta

Lexi                             Thomas                       Veronica                     Aidan                   Alex

Amanda                      Colin                           Elliot                          Eva                  Jackson

Jake                            Kieran             Miriam                        Ronan T.              Alice

Lana                            Luke                           Milo                            Scarlett                Tovi

                                                                        Zoe                              Ronan H.

 

 

            The following week, September 21-25, we will begin the Letter of the Week. Your child is welcome to bring in an object from home that begins with the letter Aa, something from nature or a story for sharing time.

                       

Thanks and Reminders:

* Alameda Pre-K is a Peanut-free zone. This includes peanut products, such as peanut butter that are found in granola bars and other processed foods.

* We WILL NOT be following the Portland Public Schools monthly late opening schedule (every third Wednesday). This seemed like it would unfairly take classroom time away from the AM Half-Day group.

* We will be posting a list of parent jobs in the classroom by the sign-in sheets. We like to change out the play-dough every two weeks or so, so that’s an ongoing opportunity to contribute to keeping us going. We will also have, from time to time, special cutting projects. Let us know if you’re interested in helping out with those.

* Thanks so much, parents, for sharing your children with us!